Articles ⇒
The High Price of Comfort:
Dramatic Results Require Dramatic Changes

by Jacques Werth, Founder of High Probability Selling.  © 2004

Many salespeople are uncomfortable with the results of their sales efforts.  So, they spend time and money on sales training in an attempt to improve themselves.  Do they succeed in improving their selling skills?  Rarely.

Why doesn't sales training usually lead to improvement?
Ironically, salespeople often choose workshops focused on what they already know how to do.  Training may emphasize practice in old standards such as handling objections, or teach a dozen “killer closes.”

Most salespeople choose to improve on what they already know because it “feels comfortable.”  It's comfortable to think that if they can just get better at handling objections, it will make a huge difference in their closing rates.  Or, they think if they learn new ways to ask for the order they will get more orders.  What they fail to consider is that incremental improvements in their skills will only result in incremental improvements in their results.  The dramatic improvements that they need and want remain elusive.

How can you achieve dramatic improvements?
In order to get dramatically improved results - much higher closing rates - you need to radically change what you're doing.  Radical changes can be uncomfortable to learn, and uncomfortable to utilize.

Most people, therefore, don't choose the uncomfortable route.  They don't change very much of what they're doing, with the exception of performing a few sales techniques somewhat better.  Yet, they expect their results to change dramatically.  That's not how the world works!

Here's the good news:
If you are willing to tolerate the discomfort of changing your behaviors, the uncomfortable will soon become comfortable.  Your new selling skills, attitudes and behavior will be far more comfortable than having to deal with continued disappointment and the hardships of incremental improvements.

Most salespeople who learn and fully apply High Probability Selling get over their discomfort within a few months.  Selling the HPS way becomes comfortable and satisfying.  High Probability Selling produces the dramatic results that come with radical improvements.